Abia state governor, chief Theodore Orji has declared that the chequered history of Nigeria’s democratic transition and economic development have imposed on present governors in Nigeria , the hard task of quickly and forcefully addressing all imaginable problems be they personal in nature or those formal issues affecting the general welfare of the people.
Chief TA Orji made this declaration while delivering a paper titled, “The Role of Governor’s in Nigeria’s Federal Democracy :Meeting the challenges “at the Paul H Nitze school of advanced studies John Hopkins University, Washinton D.C United states of America.
In a statement by the chief press secretary, Ugochukwu Emezue , chief Orji stated that this situation the governors have found themselves have propelled them to not only work tirelessly , to meet the aspirations of the people who elected them into office , ensure that good governance is enthroned but also to avoid the impunity of the past.
According to Chief TA Orji every governor has his own challenges which must be surmounted to record success.
For the governor, the attributes of good governor, which the governors strives to enthrone involves collective participation, consensus building, accountability, equitability, inclusiveness and more importantly the rule of law.
Chief Orji stated that two related problems that often challenge the governors’ performance included unequal availability of resources over dependence of many states on the purse of the federal government. These according to him create further challenges which are either structural and intra state in nature and bear with them the collective barge of misrepresentation of public service as a sharing a sharing of the national cake.
Chief Orji hinted that the centralization of power on the federal government especially the concentration of resources in the centre which heightens political competition at the center create violent conflicts, reduce effective participatory democracy and accountability in public office.
He therefore called for the devolution of more power from the centre to the states which he stated will certainly liberate more assets for governors in their roles of deepening democracy and enhancing development.
Chief Orji who received standing ovation for his thought provoking lecture is expected to meet with foreign investors on the need for them to invest in Abia state which has become investor’s destination point with secured environment.
It will be recalled that Chief Orji was invited to give this year’s lecture based on his outstanding leadership qualities which had earned him local and international recognition recently
